Thor #45

Posted: Tuesday, January 22
By: Jason Cornwell

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Artists: Tom Raney (p), Scott Hanna (I)

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Plot:
The book opens with a Balder the Brave led expedition, that is making their way across a body of water that is filled with sea monsters that are all too eager to drag their boat under. While the crew does battle with a creature, we see one member of the group begins to question the logic behind this mission, and even goes as far to suggest that Thor is recklessly endangering his subjects. However, a round of story time quickly ensues, as we lean how Thor showed his compassion toward a dying troll, who had attacked Asgard in the wake of Odin's death. We also learn how Thor sent several of his bravest warriors leaping into an unknown abyss to discover what was at the bottom. How these stories were suppose to convince us Thor isn't being careless with the lives of others I'm not exactly sure, but we do find him on hand in the present day to rescue Balder, who after being rescued by Thor we soon discover was actually a disguised Loki, who is looking to plant seeds of doubt in the minds of Thor's subjects.

Comments:
A rather odd issue in that it does have numerous elements that I rather enjoyed, from the fairly exciting quest that Balder & his men are sent on, to the scenes where we see Thor playing the role of leader, and the doubts that we hear voiced by some of his subjects. However, the book also suffers from a disjointed, somewhat scattered overall feel to it, and the pieces that are suppose to fit together don't quite work. I mean, how is Thor showing compassion to a dying troll suppose to convince a doubting thomas that their leader cares for their welfare? How is his sending warriors leaping into the unknown suppose to show his grand vision of the future? Aside from revealing a softer side when it come to combat, and his desire to sate his curiosity by endangering the lives of others, none of these examples used to convince us Thor is a good ruler really do what Dan Jurgens seems to be aiming for. In fact, to tell the truth they actually reveal qualities that seem to suggest he's a weaker leader than I had expected him to be.

What I did like about this issue is that the new status quo that Dan Jurgens has come up with looks to be a good sight more permanent than I had expected. I mean sure his role as ruler of the gods of Asgard will keep him from running around on Earth, and we'll probably see Thor-Girl handling the Misgard adventures (though to tell the truth I'd much rather have seen Beta Ray Bill playing this role). Still it is nice to see Dan Jurgens has really committed this book to its new direction, as while there are seeds of doubt being raised about Thor's effectiveness as ruler, I don't see any signs that Thor tenure is going to end any time soon. Dan Jurgens has also done a pretty nice job hinting that Thor is destined to commit some unspeakable act of evil, and the last page does suggest that Thor's grasp on sanity is going to be tested in the near future. It's also nice to see that Loki's busy doing what he does best, which is to muck around in the shadows, and actively making Thor's life more difficult. Plus, I'm curious what happened to the real Balder.

Tom Raney is a bit of an unknown quantity in my book. I mean there's no doubting his talents as an artist, as he always brings highly polished, exquisitely detailed work to the table, and his debut issue on Thor is a prime example of why I welcome his arrival. On the other hand, to the best of my knowledge Tom Raney has never proven himself to be a monthly artist, and in today's industry, when I see art this detailed my first reaction there's no way he can deliver art of this quality on a monthly basis. If he can than I'll sing his praises, and if he can't then I just hope Tom Brevoort had the foresight to keep Stuart Immonen on hand to fill in the gaps. In any event, there's no sense worrying about problems that might appear in the future, as any book that can grab itself an artist as skilled as Tom Raney for it's regular artist instantly gains itself some of the best looking art out there. I mean, there's a double page spread of Thor leading his men that just perfectly captures the idea that Tom Raney has brought a great visual sense to these pages.

Final Word:
A somewhat unfocused issue in that it kind of jumps around from one idea to the next, without any real flow to it. I mean, there's interesting ideas to be found, and the book does a pretty good job holding my interest, but it does feel more like a jumble of little ideas than an honest-to-goodness narrative. It also doesn't help that the examples that are used to dissuade the doubts that are arising about Thor's leadership, are rather poor examples. I mean, if I was one of these gods I'd be even more concerned after I learned what Thor was doing. I mean a leader who weeps for his enemies, and endangers his warriors on matters that could be resolved in less reckless manners are not exactly what I call glowing recommendations. I'd also have liked to see a bit more action for Tom Raney's debut issue.